Less than 20 days until the start of the Atlantic 10 tournament, Saint Louis made a statement this week that it might be a spoiler come March, scoring conference wins against No. 20 George Washington and Davidson.
The Billikens, 13-12 overall and 6-6 in conference play, handed George Washington its first Atlantic 10 loss, blitzing the Colonials 79-61 at home on Feb. 11. The loss broke a string of 19 consecutive wins for George Washington, which earlier that day had been touted by the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee as a top-20 seed at that point in the season.
Junior forward Denisha Womack scored a game-high 17 points to lead five Saint Louis players in double figures in the win, which was Saint Louis’ first against a ranked opponent since the Billikens defeated No. 20 DePaul 73-71 in overtime on Jan. 24, 2003, in a Conference USA game.
In the 77-59 win against Davidson on Saturday, Sadie Stipanovich had game highs of 20 points and eight rebounds as Saint Louis pulled away in the second half for the victory. A sophomore, Stipanovich leads Saint Louis in scoring (14.0 points per game) and rebounding (6.2). She is the daughter Steve Stipanovich, who starred at Missouri (1979-83) and was later a first-round pick of the Indiana Pacers (1983).
Winners of five of the past seven games, Saint Louis has now beaten both George Washington and Fordham in recent days, two of just three losses those teams have sustained in the Atlantic 10. The Billikens have scored in the 70s in four consecutive games for the first time since the 2006-07 season and moved above the .500 mark after 25 games for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
Saint Louis returns to action on Feb. 18 at home against St. Bonaventure.
